The dangers of Smoking.
The dangers of smoking are widely known, by smokers and non smokers alike. Detective Sergeant James Hathaway knows them, accepts them and lives with them. Except one. No one thought to warn about that one did they?
Chapter 4
James barely looked up from his mass of old newspapers and sweet wrappers as lewis slumped at his desk opposite. Robbie noticed he had his 'ear plugs' in again and was nodding in time to something. Something loud, probably irreparably damaging his hearing, Lewis caught himself thinking and then pulled a face at how old such a thought made him sound.
"All right?" James asked.
It took Lewis a moment to notice that the 'tic-tic-tic' of whatever music Hathaway had been listening to had stopped and James looked at him in expectation.
"No leads on the first body" Robbie said sulkily "Anything on the second?"
"Well 'Fisherman Stan'" James replied "Was actually Stanley Hook originally from Dundee, came here after the war, bought himself a boat, married himself a wife"
"Captain Hook?" Lewis said with hope rather than humour.
"Wondered how long it would take" James replied, with neither hope nor humour "They were pretty self sufficient, Mary, the wife, worked here and there but they were clean and apparently, well liked. Then Mary died, and Stan went downhill. Had his boat removed from the river in the 80's due to complaints of it being out of control, probably because he was drunk, and that's where the official records end, after that it's folk lore, and he was well liked still, if at arms length"
"If he had those little visitors you did" Lewis grimaced "I'm not surprised"
"Had to chuck that suit" Hathaway replied "Anyway, I've set up a meeting with the river authority to review their records"
"Come on then" Lewis jumped to his feet "Let's get to it"
"Impatient Sir?" James asked slyly.
"There's something in this" Lewis mused "I just know there is"
"That's as may be" Jean Innocents voice carried into the room, followed by the woman herself "But I want you on this"
She handed Lewis a file, which he opened, his shoulders slumped as he read the initial notes.
"And the current case?" Hathaway's eyes narrowed, he had waited to be pulled from this case, solving the deaths of two tramps wouldn't be 'an effective use of resources' he expected. He was prepared to fight the cause.
"You don't have the second autopsy results" Innocent went on "And won't have for a while, I have requested that Dr Hobson and her team concentrate on this first, so put it on the back burner for now"
"What is it?" James asked carefully, squaring his shoulders.
"Dead baby" she replied, feeling triumph as even Mr Cold himself, Hathaway, winced at her words "From a family known to social services, and us. The papers are all over it"
"Come on" lewis said to James sourly "We'd better get over there"
Hathaway didn't answer, he didn't see the need to.
…...
Lewis and Hathaway padded into the small house. The smell of stale cigarettes, present even to James as a smoker, along with fried food, and dirt, assailed the air.
"Upstairs Sir" a uniform nodded "SOCO and the doc are already here"
James took a last look through the front door at the mele of police, paramedics, by standers and press before following Lewis up the narrow staircase.
"Vultures" he muttered.
Lewis heard, but did not comment.
They paused at the bedroom door, hearing hushed voices.
"No obvious signs of trauma" Laura said quietly "And everything within normal parameters from what I can see, dirty nappy and a snotty nose"
A colleague stood beside her, also peering into the cot, James recognised the voice as Evie, the new assistant.
"The room isn't that warm" Evie commented "Thin blankets"
"Neglect?" the doctor ventured "PND? That's more your area than mine"
"Mothers very absent" Evie remarked "Detached. He's not the best cared for baby, but I have seen worse in cases of PND, but then I'm no expert"
"The whole house is filthy" Laura replied "And the other kids. Who found him?"
"The police said the eldest brother" Evie replied "Aged 7"
"My God" Laura sighed.
"Care to share?" Lewis remarked from behind them, both women whirled to see they were being watched by him and Hathaway.
"Initial observations" Hobson replied.
"Which are?" Lewis smirked.
James watched as Evie melted into the background, taking a silver case with her she exited the room. He wrote as the doctor spoke, but his attention was diverted.
Unzipping her paper suit, Evie took it off outside the door and put it into an evidence bag and handed it to a SOC officer, walking quietly down the stairs.
"James?" Lewis prompted, Hathaway snapped his attention back.
"Sir?"
"The parents?"
"Downstairs Sir?"
"Speak to them?"
James nodded and left the room, speaking to the officer guarding the door a moment.
Lewis chuckled "Think he thought you were treading on our toes there"
Laura rolled her eyes "He was in more danger of treading on his tongue as Evie took that suit off"
Lewis shook his head "Any one else, I'd say yes. Him? No"
…...
Lewis finally gave up on sleep at around 3am. He mulled over the baby case, and the reaction to it.
Sitting in his favourite chair whilst Laura slept he wondered at calling James, about the only other person he knew that suffered with terminal insomnia. James had been tight lipped and quiet after interviewing the parents, sighing a lot.
Lewis knew that it had got to him, the state of the house, the way the other children hovered around but didn't quite engage. The way the parents seemed disinterested.
By the time the baby and what SOCO needed had been removed, and the area cleared, it was after midnight. They had called it a night, Laura had said she would autopsy first thing in the morning, so with interviews conducted, there was nothing they could do except await the results.
He looked at the calendar, again. He wished that Laura would give him a straight answer on when she would retire herself, he was tired of this game, but he couldn't do nothing, he wanted to share what he had left with her fully, while they could both still enjoy it.
…...
Lewis was right. James also sat staring into space, empty glass in his hand. Common sense told him that to drink any more, now, would render him unable to drive later, so he'd stopped at two.
He pondered the baby, the needless loss of an innocent life, and the treatment of the other children. A side of him that he felt was diminishing with this job cautioned against judgement. But wasn't that what he was supposed to do? Judge people's actions? Determine if they were illegal? But what of morality? Right and wrong? Regardless of the law.
He sighed and laid down staring at the ceiling. Another thought occurred to him, the words of Dr Hobson earlier that night.
"Neglect?" the doctor ventured "PND? That's more your area than mine"
Why, he thought, would post natal depression be Evie's area? She was a pathology assistant, with a degree in pharmacology.